Concert review: Ringo Starr and his All-Starrs rock Woodstock

In a two-hour show Saturday night featuring his 11th All-Starr Band, Ringo Starr showed why he is a beloved Beatle with his warm sense of humor, wit and muscianship.

Dino F. Ciliberti

What’s so funny about peace, love and understanding?

To coin the Elvis Costello song, nothing if you are ex-Beatle Ringo Starr and you are playing for the first time in such a historic venue as the place where Woodstock was held.

In a two-hour show Saturday night featuring his 11th All-Starr Band, Starr showed why he is a beloved Beatle with his warm sense of humor, wit and muscianship.

In only the third show of the tour, Starr delivered a strong set featuring Fab Four classics, his trademark Beatles numbers, timeless solo hits and afew new numbers and several tunes by his bandmates that are musical monsters in rock ‘n’ roll history and ones that tore up the charts during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

The band launched into “It Don’t Come Easy” during the sold-out performance at the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, and out came Ringo, dressed all in black to front the stage for the opener, “Honey Don’t,” and the more recent “Choose Love.”

“It’s great to be here,” Starr said. “This is a historic musical memory.”

Then Ringo went to man the drums, turning over the set to his band: sharpshooters including saxophone/keyboard virtuoso Edgar Winter, bassist Richard Page, guitarist Rick Derringer, Wally Palmar on guitar, Gary Wright on keyboards and Greg Bissonette on drums.

Talk about some musical history.

It all started off with a Derringer number that he said was his first No. 1 record and the official state rock anthem of Ohio: the classic “Hang on Sloopy,” which Derringer did with The McCoys when he was 17 in the summer of 1965. (The Beatles’ “Yesterday” knocked it off the top of the charts.)

Next, the popular Winter took center stage. The albino featured a big collaboration with Derringer in the mid-70s called “Free Ride.” The blistering guitar solos got the crowd on its feet.

Palmar took the next turn at the microphone with his MTV hit for the Romantics: “Talking In Your Sleep.”

Ringo slipped in an early Beatles song “I Wanna Be Your Man” from his drum kit, showing the crowd why he’s considered one of the greatest drummers in history.

He introduced Wright, who discussed how George Harrison had given him abook when the two took a trip to India. From that book, Wright came up with the words for the huge 1974 hit “Dream Weaver.”

What makes the All-Starr bands so special are all of the other songs they are able to play from the members’ backgrounds.

Of late, the more recent song came from Page, who lead the 1980s band Mr. Mister. Page, in fine vocal form, shined on the No. 1 “Kyrie” in 1985.

Starr mixed in a few new songs from his recent “Y Not” album — “The Other Side of Liverpool” and the appropriate “Peace Dream” — and then really got the crowd going with the happy sing-a-long “Yellow Submarine.”

The band took more solo turns: Palmar played harmonica on the upbeat “What I Like About You,” Page showed off his vocal range with “Broken Wings,” Wright shined on keyboards on 1976’s “Love is Alive” and Derringer offered the fiery “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo.”

But it was Winter’s No. 1 1973 monster smash instrumental “Frankenstein” that brought the house down.

Switching from keyboards, saxophone, synthesizers and drums, Winter thrashed about with some great strutwork from Derringer.

Of course, the night belonged to Ringo.

He assumed command of the show with Beatles’ songs “Boys” and “Act Naturally” and solo 1970s hits “Back Off Boogaloo” and “Photograph.” And then Ringo dipped into a song from the album that shook the world: “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”

The show closer “With a Little Help From My Friends” was the perfect vehicle for Starr and his band of merry men.

Ringo left the stage at the end of “Sgt. Pepper’s” “With a Little Help From My Friends” flashing the peace sign and saying “Peace and love, I love you all,” before coming back on stage as the band played a snippet of John Lennon’s classic “Give Peace a Chance.”

At the home of Woodstock, the ending was just about perfect.

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